Tao Li on her way to a new national mark in the 200m butterfly. She finished in 2min 12.63sec to eclipse her previous record by 0.57sec. -- ALBERT SIM/THE STRAITS TIMES
TAO LI ended her magical Olympic run the same way she started it - by breaking her own national record.
But while her feat in the women's 100m butterfly on Saturday set her on her way to an Asian record and a place in the final, yesterday's effort in the 200m butterfly was not good enough to prolong her participation in Beijing.
She clocked 2min 12.63sec to better her previous mark of 2:13.20 set in June at the National Championships.
She was fifth in her heat, but finished 26th in the field of 34 overall, thus missing out on a place in the semi-finals, which will feature the top 16 qualifiers.
Said Tao Li, who became the first Singaporean swimmer to qualify for an Olympic final: 'I'm happy I managed to break another national record.
'I've been focusing on both events for some time, so it's satisfying to have done well in both.'
Asked if she was sad that she will no longer be competing at the Beijing Games, she replied: 'Sad, how can I be? I'm happy. To break two records and qualify for the final on my debut is great.'
Her coach Peter Churchill praised her performance yesterday.
He said: 'To swim three big races in the 100m fly and to break the 200m fly record is a great achievement.'
